Flexible sheet support for photographic device



N. C. SCHUTT Nov. 24, 1959 FLEXIBLE SHEET SUPPORT FOR PHOTOGRAPHICDEVICE Filed Nov. 12, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 y H I 75 INVENTOR. NoRMAN 625cm/TT .inl

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N. C. SCHUTT FLEXIBLE SHEET SUPPORT FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC DEVICE Filed N'ov.12, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

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United States Patent O FLEXIBLE SHEET SUPPORT FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC DEVICENuman C. Schutt, Glen Cove, N.Y., assignor to Powers Chemco, Inc., GlenCove, N.Y., a corporation of New York Application November 12, 1957,Serial No. 695,912

5 Claims. (Cl. 248-363) Thisinvention relates to a sheet support for usewith large photographic cameras and, which may be used as either a copyor a film support and has specific relation t an improved supportwherein a picture, or other sheet of copy or wherein a sheet ofphotosensitive paper is held flat and in intimate contact with thesupport by means of suction.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in parthereinafter and in part will be obvious hererom, or may be learned bypractice with the invention, the same being realized and attained bymeans of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in theappended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts, constructions, arrangements,combinations and improvements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawings, referred to herein and constituting a parthereof, illustrate one embodiment of the invention, and together withthe description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

Of the drawings:

Figure 1 is a rear plan View of a preferred embodiment of the improvedsupport of this invention with parts being broken away to better showthe details of construction;

Figure 2 is a side View of the sheet support;

Figure 3 is a partial sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1with the scale of Figure 3 being much larger than that of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4 4 of .Figure l andshowing in detail the detent that engages the valve actuating stem;

Figure 5 is a partial vertical sectional View of the sheet support andthe distributor valve that forms a part there- -of with this sectionbeing taken along line 5 5 of Figure 1 and with the scale of this viewbeing much larger .than that of Figure l;

Figure 6 is a partial'rear elevational view of the sheet support withtlie'rear wall of the distributor valve hous- .ing removed, and;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the slide valve per se.

The present invention has for its object the provision lof an improvedsupport for the exible sheet of copy or photosensitive paper in aprecision photographic camera wherein the sheet is held in contact withthe support by means of suction. A further object is to provide animproved support of this type wherein suction is applied to openingsdistributed over -the face of the support through a chambered manifoldarrangement by means -of which suction may be applied to the entire areaof the support or limited centrally located portions thereof and whereinthis application of suction to these various chambers of the manifoldand accordingly areas of the support is selectively controlled by anovel distributor valve mounted on the rear of the support. A stillfurther object is to provide such a suction support of improved qualityand wherein the distributor valve is operative to distribute the suctionapplied to the chambers of the mani fold in a manner to produce agenerally uniform suction throughout the chambers to which suction isapplied at any one time notwithstanding that the several manifoldchambers serve areas of the support of different magnitude. Anotherobject is to provide an improved suction type support wherein themanifold is comprised of nested chambers with the chambers beingarranged so that the total areaof the openings communicating with eachchamber and through which suction is applied to the tace of the supportprogressively increase with chambers outwardly of the center and whereinthe distributor valve carries flow restrictors and is operative tosuccessively restrict communication of the inner chambers relative tothe outermost chamber to compensate for this so the suction in eachchamber to which suction is applied will be generally uniform. Stillanother object of the invention is to provide such an improved suctiontype of support well adapted for use with cut film or with copy sheetsof varying sizes or for use with roll film and which is rugged andreliable in its operation and wherein the distributor valve althougheffective to both control the area of the support to which suction isapplied and generally evenly distribute the application of the suctionthroughout the area to which suction is applied is extremely simple andeconomical in construction yet is highly satisfactory in operation.

in accordance with the present invention there is provided a facingmember which has openings distributed throughout its area and throughwhich suction is applied to a flexible sheet that is positioned againstthe flat front face of this member. Overlyiug and in engagement with therear face of this member is a backing plate which has passages extendingtherethrough and each of wh.cn communicate with only a particular groupof openings in the facing member. This backing plate is provided with aseries of rearwardly extending ribs or partitions, which, together witha cover plate overlying the rear face of this backing member, form aplurality of separate chambers with one chamber being located generallycentrally with respect to the facing member and effectively covering arestricted central area of the facing member and with the other chamberspositioned about and progressively outward of this central chamber.These several chambers together cover substantially the entire area ofthe baci;- ing plate and accordingly the facing member, and in theillustrative and preferred embodiment there are three such chambers.These chambers form a manifold for the application of suction to theopenings of the facing member through the passages in the backingmember, and the chambers and passages are arranged so that the totalarea of the passages that communicate with each chamber progressivelyincreases from the centermost chamber outwardly with this being theresult of sizing the chambers so that they are progressively largeroutwardly of the centermost and also as a result of increasing the sizeof these openings in the upper central position of the outermost chamberand decreasing the spacing of the openings communicating with thisoutermost chamber. The application of suction to these nested manifoldchambers and accordingly to the area of the film support correspondingor overlying them is controlled by a distributor valve that is mountedon the rear of the support. This valve is effective to not only controlthe application of suction to the chambers but also to compensate forthe effect that the variation in total area of the passages in thebacking member that communicate with the various chambers has withregard to the application of suction throughout the area of the supportto which suction is applied, with the valve giving a substantial equaldegree of vacuum to each manifold chamber.

' The distributor valve is of the slide type mounted in a suitablehousing secured to the rear of the cover plate with the valve beingmaintained in sliding and valving relation with the cover plate and witha suitable operating stem extending laterally out through the side ofthe housing for moving the valve to and from its inner and outerpositions. An opening extends through the cover plate from each of themanifold chambers into the housing and these openings and the valve arearranged so that when the valve is in its inner position it blocks allof the openings except that extending from the innermost chamber andupon moving the valve toward its outermost position the openingextending from the intermediate chamber is uncovered and a flowrestrictor is positioned over the opening extending from the innermostchamber. This flow restrictor effectively compensates for the differencein total area of the openings in the backing plate that communicate withthe inner most chamber and the intermediate chamber so that the vacuumin each of these chambers is substantially the same. Upon further movingthe slide valve outwardly and into its outermost position the openingcommunicating with the outermost chamber is uncovered and a owrestrictor is positioned over the opening extending from the innermostand the intermediate chamber with these flow restrictors being effectiveto provide substantially the same degree of vacuum in each of the threechambers. The flow restrictors forproducing this desired result take theform of spring iiapper members secured to the slide valve.

Thus, the distributor Valve is operative to regulate the extent of thesupport to which suction is applied and is also effective to insure thata substantial equal suction effect is had throughout this effectivearea.

It will be understood that the foregoing general description and thefollowing detailed description as well are exemplary and explanatory ofthe invention but are not restrictive thereof.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, wherein like referencecharacters are used throughout to designate like elements, theillustrative and preferred embodiment of the invention depicted thereincomprises a facing plate having a dat outer surface and being providedwith groups of openings 12 distributed throughout the area of the plate.The flat outer surface of plate 1t) is adapted to have a sheet offlexible material 13 placed over and in engagement therewith with thesheet being held in firm contact with the face of the plate by theapplication of suction through the groups of openings 12. Overlying theback of plate 1@ and in engagement therewith is the backing plate 14which is cemented to plate 10 about the overlying edge of the two platesin a iiuid tight manner. The face of plate 14 that is in engagement withfacing plate 10 is provided with relieved portions or recesses 16 eachof which communicates directly with and encom passes one of the group ofopenings 12 provided in facing plate 10 with bores or passages 18extending from the bottom of these relieved portions through the backingplate.

'Suction is applied to bores 18 through a suitable manifold located atthe rear of backing plate 14 and to form this manifold partitions 22 areprovided which extend laterally from and rearwardly of the packing plateand in overlying relation with which is cover plate 24. The partitionsor ribs 22 are disposed as shown in Figure l vso, that with cover plate24, which preferably engages the partitions in a uid tight manner, threeseparate charnbers 26, 28 and 30 are provided with chamber 26 preferablybeing located centrally with respect to backing plate 14 and facingplate 10 and being of rectangular shape while chambers 28 and 30 aredisposed about this central chamber 26 and respectively progressivelyoutward thereof. These nested chambers thus, in combination, cover theentire area of backing plate 14 except for the area that is occupied bypartitions 22.

In order to control the application of suction to these chambers thereis mounted on the back of cover plate 24 a distributor valve 32 whichincludes housing 34 provided with a rim 36 that extends forward and isin engagement with the rear face of coverl plate 25 with the housingbeing held in place by"'screws`"33 that extend through the rim and arethreaded into reinforcing member 40 that is bonded to the inner faceofthe cover plate with the housing thereby formingV a distributionchamber 42 which extends over a portion of each of the manifold chambers26, 28 and 30. Connected with housing 34 is conduit 44 whichcommunicates with a source of suction such a vacuum pump (not shown) andis provided at its end with flange 46 which is attached to the valvehousing by screws 48 and with communication with the interior of thehousing being had through the opening 50.

Communication between manifold chambers 26, 28 and 30 and the interiorof distributor valve housing 34 is had through openings 52, 54 and 56,respectively, that extend through cover plate 24. Control ofcommunication between these manifold chambers and the valve housingthrough these openings is hadby means of side valve 58 which is insliding overlying relation with the outer face of the cover plate 24,this valve being in the form of a plate that is slidably received inlongitudinal recesses 60 (Fig. 5) formed in the horizontal extendingportions of rim 36 of housing 34 and with abutment members 62 extendingfrom the inner. face of the housing into sliding engagement with thevalve plate so as to retain it juxtaposed to the cover plate in orderthat it will be capable of acting as a valve with relation to theopenings extending through the cover plate.

Longitudinal movement of slide valve 58 within valve housing 34 iseffected by means of valve stem 64 which extends laterally outwardthrough the side of the valve chamber and has its inner end secured tothe block 66 mounted on the valve. The valve has three operatingpositions and when in its outermost extreme position, which is indicatedin Figure 1, only the central manifold chamber 26 is in communicationwith chamber 42 of the valve housing, while in its intermediate positionmanifold chambers 26 and 2S are in communication with the valve housing,and in its innermost position (Fig. 6)V all of the manifold chambers arein communication with the valve housing. To effect this result the valveplate (Fig. 7) is provided with openings 68 and 70 that are adapted tocommunicate with opening 52 in the cover plate; openings 72 and 74 thatare adapted to corrimunicate with opening 54 in the cover plate; andopening v76 that is adapted to communicate with opening 56 in the coverplate. As indicated in Figure l, when the slide valve is in its outerposition it is positioned to the right of opening S2 so that thisopening is unobstructed and in communication with the valve housingwhile openings 54 and S6 are covered by the slide valve. When in itsintermediate position opening 52 communicates with opening 68 in theslide valve and opening S4 communi- Acate's with opening 72 whileopening 56 remains covered;

the'area covered b'y'ea'ch of these chambers progressively increases inthis same manner and `because the spacing of passages 18 thatcommunicate with the outermost chamber 30'are less than that of chambers26 and 28 as well as because the passages 18 that are located at theupper central position of backing plate 14 and which communicate withchamber 30 are of larger diameter than the remaining passages in thebacking plate with this being for the purpose of providing a greaterforce at the upper central portion of the sheet to hold it against thesupport since the sheet will tend to hang from this upper centralportion. The chambers outwardly of the centermost chamber 26 areprogressively larger in order to give a practical range to the`different areas of the face to which suction is applied and the closerspacing -of the openings 18 and groups of openings 12 communicating withthe outermost manifold has been found to give better operating results.

When suction is being applied to chambers 26, 28 and 30 it is desirablefor each of these chambers to have substantially the same degree ofvacuum in order that the film sheet will be firmly and flatly heldagainst the front of facing plate throughout the area of the sheet andto insure against the formation of wrinkles or pockets where the film isspaced from the facing plate. To achieve this result the effect of theprogressive increase in Vtotal area of passages 18- communicating withthe chambers more removed from the center must be cornpensated for.Therefore when chambers 26 and 28 are in communication with the valvehousing the communication of chamber 26 with the housing must be morerestricted than that of chamber 28. For this purpose ow restrictor 77 ispositioned over the opening 68 in the slide valve with this flowrestrictor being in the form of a iiexible or spring fiapper, as shown,secured at one end to the valve by rivets or screws 78. Thus when thevalve-is in its intermediate position where openings 68 and 72 in thevalve communicate with openings 52 and 5.4 respectively in the coverplate 24 communication of chamber 26 with the valve housing iseffectively restricted with respect to communication of chamber 28 withthe housing because of the resilient restrictor 77 with this restrictorbeing chosen so that the degree of suction in chambers 26 and 28 issubstantially the same. In a like manner opening 70 and 74 in the slidevalve have positioned over them leaf spring restrictor members 80 and82, respectively, with these flow restrictors being effective torestrict communication of chambers 26 and 28 respectively with the valvehousing when the valve is in its innermost position and with therestriction afforded by these members being such that the degree ofvacuum in the manifold chambers 26, 28 and 30 is substantially the samewhen the valve is in this innermost position.

In order that an indication may be provided as to the proper positioningof the valve in its various operating positions'valve stern 64 is formedwith three longitudinally spaced recesses 84, 86 and 8S which areadapted to successively receive spring pressed detent 90 which isprovide/d in boss 92 on the side of the valve housing and with thisdetent being in the form of a spring biased ball retained within acapped bore as shown in Figure 4. When the valve is in its outermostpostion detent 90 is received within recess 84 and suction is appliedonly to the central manifold chamber 26, which is suitable for use withsmall sizes of sheets; when the valve is in its intermediate positionwhere suction is supplied to both chambers 26 and 28 detent 90 isreceived within recess 86 which is suitable for medium sizes of sheets;and when the valve is in its innermost position detent 90 is receivedwithin recess 88 and suction is applied to all three manifold chambersand accordingly to the entire area of the support for use with largesizes of sheets and for use with roll film. An additional indication ofthe position of the valve is provided by the markings L,

M and S on the rear of cover plate 24 and with which the end of valvestem 64 cooperates to indicate the area of the support to which suctionis applied and accordingly the size sheet that may be employed, withthese markings indicating small, medium and large.

The three overlying plates 10, 14 and 24 are secured together abouttheir outer edges and at the location of partitions 22 in a uid tightmanner by bolts 71 which are countersunk into facing plate 10 and extendthrough aligned bores provided in the facing plate 10, backing plate 14,and cover plate 24. Threaded on the outer end of each of these bolts isa nut 75 which when tightened down securely clamps the plates together.The plate 10 is preferably made of a plastic material such as phenolformaldehyde or plate 10 may be of such'a material, and a sealing cementis interposed between the plates prior to clamping the plates togetherby means of the bolts 71 and nuts 75.

In operation of the improved film support of this invention, the supportis mounted in a vertical position so that the outer face of facing plate10 is vertically disposed and against this outer face is positioned theflexible sheet of copy or photosensitive material which is to besupported and maintained flat by the support. When copy or cut film isbeing supported, valve 58 is operated so that the area of the facingmember to which suction is applied corresponds as near as possible tothe size of the sheet. When the sheet is of sufficiently small size sothat it will lie within the bounds of central chamber 26, valve 58 ismoved to its outermost position where the end of valve stem 64 isopposite the letter S (as shown in Figure l) and detent 90 is receivedwithin recess 84 in the'stem. In this position unrestrictedcommunication of chamber 26 with valve housing 34 is had through opening52. When the sheet is too large to lie within the bounds of chamber 28slide valve 58 is moved to its intermediate position where the end ofstem 64 is opposite the letter M and detent 90 is received within recess86. In this position of the slide valve 58 manifold chamber 28 is inunrestricted communication with the valve housing 34 through opening 54while communication of chamber 26 with the valve housing is restrictedby How restrictor 77 and with the vacuum formed in chambers 26 and 28being substantially the same even though the total area of passages 18communicating with chamber 28 is substantially greater than thatcommunicating with chamber 26. When a still larger sheet of material isbeing used so that it extends beyond the bounds of chamber 28 or whenroll film is being used valve 58 is positioned in its innermost positionwith the end of valve stem 64 being opposite the letter L and detent 90being received in recess 88. In this position (which is shown in Figure6) the outermost chamber 30V is in unrestricted communication with valvehousing' 34 through opening 56 while the communication of cham-V bers 26and 28 with the valve housing is respectively' restricted by the owrestrictors and 82 which are: effective to produce a substantially equaldegree of vacuum in all the chambers notwithstanding that the total areaof passages 18 communicating with chamber 30 is greater than thatcommunicating with chamber 28 which is in turn greater than thatcommunicating with chamber 26.

Thus with the organization of the present invention the application ofsuction to the sheet support may be restricted to limited centrallylocated positions that are defined by a manifold arrangement and withthe suction etfect in the compartments of the manifold being equalized.The resilient fiapper type restrictors tend to be automatic in theiroperation since as the pressure in the manifold chamber with which therestrictor is associated increases relative to that in the valve housing(i.e., the degree of vacuum in the chamber decreases) the restrictormoves to a less restricting positon resulting in decreasing the pressurein the chamber and accordingly increasing the.

7 degree of vacuum. therein. An increase in the degree of vacuum inthemanifold chamberA above its desired valve hasv just the, opposite,yeffect with the flow restrictor moving to a more restrictingposition.

The invention inits` broader aspects isnot limited to the4 specificmechanisms shown and described but departures maybe made therefrom,within the scope ofthe accompanying claims, without departing from theprinciples-of the invention and without sacrificing its chiefadvantages.

What-is claimed is:

l. A vacuum type-sheetvsupport comprising in combination a facingmemberhaving a frontface adapted to receive. afleXiblesheet andLprovided with groups of openings distributed thereover` for theapplication ofl suction to, said sheet, means overlyingthe back of saidfacing member and forming a manifold forthe application of suction tosaid groups of openings with said manifold havingy a` plurality ofseparate chambers that are internestedtand: that collectivelyeffectively cover substantially the. entire area ofthe facing Amember.with individual openings being providedzin saidmeans and establishingcommunication between each group of openings and its overlyingmanifoldchamber` and with the` total area of said individualopenings-communicating with the centermost chamber' beingI substantiallyless than that of the chamber surroundingsaid centermost chamber, aconduit for applyingsuction to the sheet support and a-distributionvalve attherear ofv said meansto control the application of suction tothe manifold' chambers through said conduit said valve beingin directcommunicationfwith eachmanifold-chamber. and operativeY to selectivelyestablish communication between the chambers and the conduitprogressively outward .from the centermost chamber, said-valve includingal owrestrictor restricting communication ofthe centermost chamber withsaid conduit relativeto thesurrounding chamber when both chambers are incommunication with the.conduit withsaid restrictor being of suicientcapacity to. generally compensate for the difference in totalarea-offsaid individual openings communicating with these, chambers sothat the degree of vacuum in them is generally the. same.

2. In an organization of the. type described the combination of a.,vertically disposed support member for verticallysupporting aexiblesheetof material in firm intimate contact therewith, said support membercomprising a vertical facing plate provided with groups of openingsdistributed over itsarea, means at the back of -said plate forming. a.manifold;having a plurality of separate chambers one', of-` which. isgenerally. centrallydisposed with respect tothefacingplate. with theothers disposed about, and-progressively outward of said central chamberandv with the.. chambers` collectively effectively coveringsubstantially thetentire-area ofthesfacing plate, said means havingindividual. openings.k establishing communication between each groupAofaope'nings-and:its overlying-manifold chamber. with the-total area:of said individual openings, communicatingwith' eachchamber-respectively increasing `withnthe distance ofthe chamber fromthe centermost, adistributor.valveffor controllingthe application ofsuction to said,;manifold including a housing adapted to be. connectedto a-source of suction and mounted onV the rear of said manifold meanssaid valve including a..slide valving member maintained in overlyingvalving relation with the back of the manifold means andfextending: overan area overlying aportion of'each separate chamber,y meansffory movingsaid valving member to andfromextreme operating positions, the backofsaid manifold means havingopenings extending therethrough from themanifold chamber into said housing with said openings and ysaidvalving-memberbeing arranged so that when thetvalvingmember .isin oneAextreme .position it is effectiveto bloclglatlleast all ofthe openingsbut the opening extending. fram thesentermost Chamber and when in .the

other; extrenregpcsfitcn is effective, to.. vpermit communi-,-

cation between all of the chambers; andV the housing through theopenings, with said valving member successively moving from itslblocking position of said openings from the inner chamber outwardlyandinto its .blocking position from the outer chamber inwardly whenmoved to and from its extreme positions, and means operative tosuccessively restrict communication of each cham ber inwardly of theoutermost chamber communicating with the housing and relative to theoutermost chamber as the valving member is successively moved from itsblocking position with the restriction being suicient to generallycompensate for the variationA in the` area of the individualopenings-communicating with the several chambers so that each chamberwill have more generally the same suction.

3. A vacuum type sheet supportl comprising'avertical facing plateprovided with groups of openingsfdistributed over its area, a backingplate overlying the` backof said facing plate with individual openingsextending through the backing plate from each group of openings, a coverplate covering the back of the backing plateand forming therewith amanifold for the application of suction to said groupstof openings,partitions disposed generally normal to the plane of the facing plateand dividing said manifold into a plurality of separate intcrnestedchambers collectively etfectivelyextending over the area of the facecovered by said groups of openings with the total area of saidindividual openings communicating with-each chamber progressivelyincreasing from the. innermost chamber-outwardly, means for controllingthe application of suction to said chambers-comprising a housing mountedon the rear of said cover plate adapted to bey connected with a sourceof vacuum, a slide valve in said housing and retained in overlyingsliding relation with said cover plate, said valve extending over anarea overlyingI aV portion of each separate chamber, means extendingfrom said housing-and operative to move said valve to andl fromextremepositions, said cover plate having a-separate opening extendingtherethrough from each chamber into the-housing, said openings and valvebeing disposed softhat whenV saidvalve is in one-extreme position itoverlies at least those openings in said cover plate communicating withthe chambers outwardly of the centermost and is operative to selectivelyestablishcommunication between these chambers and the housing throughthese openings progressively from the center chamber outwardly uponmovement from said one extreme y position toward the other extremeposition and fiexible leaf flow restrictors carried by said valve andprogressively disposed over the openings through thecover-fplate as saidvalve is -moved from` said one extreme-position towardi the otherextreme position to overlie all but the outermost opening through whichcommunication is had for any particular setting ofthe valve therebyrestricting communication of said-"inner chambers with the V,housing:relative-.tothe outer chambers communicating therewith.

4. The organization of -claim 3including'means'operai tive to-indicatethe selective positioning of "the valve.

5; A- vacuum type sheet support comprisingI in combination a facingmember having afront face` adapted to receive a iiexible sheet andprovided with groups of openings distributed thercover fortheapplication of suction to said sheet, means overlying the back ofsaid facing member and forming a manifold for the application of suctionto said groupsy of openings, with said manifold having ya plurality ofseparate chambers that are internested and that collectively effectivelycover substantially the entire mea of the facing-member with the area ofoperative to selectively establish a communication between the manifoldchambers and the conduit progressively outward `from the centermostchamber when moved in one direction and preventing7 such communicationprogressively inward rfrom the outermost chamber when moved in the otherdirection, and ow restrictors progressively moved in response tomovement of the valve member into restricting positions restrictingcommunication with said conduit of the manifold chambers inward of theoutermost chamber communicating with the conduit, said restriction beingsuch as to generally compen- 5 several chambers will be generally thesame.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,814,233 Anander Nov. 26, 1957

